Interviews

Birmingham Royal Ballet's annual tour to smaller venues in the north and east of England, offers new audiences a chance to see Britain's premiere touring ballet company dancing some of its keynote ballets. This year's tour features performances of Allegri diversi, Grosse Fuge and The Centre and its Opposite.

25-26 May 2010

28-29 May 2010

1-2 June 2010

4-5 June 2010

Victoria Marr interview

'This is quite a high-pressured week', admits Victoria Marr, First Soloist with Birmingham Royal Ballet. Last week Victoria returned from Japan, having forgone the recent Company performances in Virginia, USA, to guest with the New National Ballet of Tokyo. There she danced in Carmina burana, choreographed by Birmingham Royal Ballet's Director David Bintley. 'It was awesome!' she enthuses, 'An absolutely amazing trip. But now with us all having just got back we've really only got a week and a few days to get it all together for this tour of the UK.'

For those unfamiliar with Birmingham Royal Ballet's split summer tours, every year the Company divides in two to perform at either end of the Country at the same time. Each programme features three one-act ballets, chosen to showcase the strength and diversity of the Company.

'So it is literally six pieces of ballet, with three completely different works going each way. And a lot of them we're learning from scratch, as they've not been in the recent repertory. So this week we're trying to fit a lot in. And especially when you've got to fit in time for more than one cast, it's hectic. Studio space dictates that you can only do so many rehearsals in a day, and with so many pieces to prepare for, it's a lot to juggle.'

Victoria and the rest of the dancers are performing in all three of the pieces. In the case of programme closer The Centre and its Opposite, they're even dancing more than one role within a single ballet. 'The way that Garry choreographed it means that as long as we all know the material, we can interchange at different points,' explains Victoria.

'When he created it on us last year, everybody learnt every bit of choreography before later working out who would actually dance which steps over a single performance.'

'So there's not a set cast, as it would be when we perform a more classical ballet. The same steps are being performed, and to the same music, but sometimes it's different people performing them.'

The piece has already been performed on the Southern leg of last year's summer tour as well as on larger stages in Birmingham and London, and the differing theatre sizes have also required the piece to change and adapt. While the changes are small - fewer rows of lights used in the ballet dramtic sets, comparatively shorter distances for the dancers to travel - Victoria says she prefers it in the more intimate surrounds of the smaller venues.

'I think the intensity of the piece changes with the size of the theatre,' she reveals. 'A lot of people said they felt it had even more intensity in the smaller venues on the southern leg of the tour last year. The audiences were closer and you could literally see the sweat on people's brows and hear them breathing, and because it's quite a fast and energetic piece I think that really adds to the excitement of it. Sometimes I think when you add a bit more distance in there, it can lose a little bit of that energy. So I'm quite excited to be taking it out to smaller venues again because actually I think it's received even better there.'

'This is quite a high-pressured week', admits Victoria Marr, First Soloist with Birmingham Royal Ballet. Last week Victoria returned from Japan, having forgone the recent Company performances in Virginia, USA, to guest with the New National Ballet of Tokyo. There she danced in Carmina burana, choreographed by Birmingham Royal Ballet's Director David Bintley. 'It was awesome!' she enthuses, 'An absolutely amazing trip. But now with us all having just got back we've really only got a week and a few days to get it all together for this tour of the UK.'

For those unfamiliar with Birmingham Royal Ballet's split summer tours, every year the Company divides in two to perform at either end of the Country at the same time. Each programme features three one-act ballets, chosen to showcase the strength and diversity of the Company.

'So it is literally six pieces of ballet, with three completely different works going each way. And a lot of them we're learning from scratch, as they've not been in the recent repertory. So this week we're trying to fit a lot in. And especially when you've got to fit in time for more than one cast, it's hectic. Studio space dictates that you can only do so many rehearsals in a day, and with so many pieces to prepare for, it's a lot to juggle.'

Victoria and the rest of the dancers are performing in all three of the pieces. In the case of programme closer The Centre and its Opposite, they're even dancing more than one role within a single ballet. 'The way that Garry choreographed it means that as long as we all know the material, we can interchange at different points,' explains Victoria.

'When he created it on us last year, everybody learnt every bit of choreography before later working out who would actually dance which steps over a single performance.'

'So there's not a set cast, as it would be when we perform a more classical ballet. The same steps are being performed, and to the same music, but sometimes it's different people performing them.'

The piece has already been performed on the Southern leg of last year's summer tour as well as on larger stages in Birmingham and London, and the differing theatre sizes have also required the piece to change and adapt. While the changes are small - fewer rows of lights used in the ballet dramtic sets, comparatively shorter distances for the dancers to travel - Victoria says she prefers it in the more intimate surrounds of the smaller venues.

'I think the intensity of the piece changes with the size of the theatre,' she reveals. 'A lot of people said they felt it had even more intensity in the smaller venues on the southern leg of the tour last year. The audiences were closer and you could literally see the sweat on people's brows and hear them breathing, and because it's quite a fast and energetic piece I think that really adds to the excitement of it. Sometimes I think when you add a bit more distance in there, it can lose a little bit of that energy. So I'm quite excited to be taking it out to smaller venues again because actually I think it's received even better there.'